


Killbot Phantasm Through the Years

by NinaFujisaki



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Games, I'm also a Jidge shipper now, Post-Canon, Some Spoilers, a real and mature love, but I'm post bc, killbot phantasm, moving on fic, pidge deserves love, post-s8, this didn't end like I wanted to
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 12:31:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17100647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinaFujisaki/pseuds/NinaFujisaki
Summary: Video games used to be their thing. That was why, when Pidge gave up on the newest Killbot Phantasm ediction, she knew that she was going to move on or living with that pain at her chest for the rest of her life.





	Killbot Phantasm Through the Years

Katie Holt had her first crush at age 15.

He was a bit arrogant, completely sullen, and Gosh how many aliens a guy could flirt with before he was satisfied? Still, he was funny in his silly way, made her laugh, and with Hunk, Lance had been the first friend she'd had outside of her family.

To her innocent little heart, it was inevitable to fall in love with him. And it was impossible for her to continue denying it when she caught herself calling a date that day at the mall, where they collected pennies from a source to buy a video game and ended up parents of a cow.

Video games were another passion of Katie's life and Killbot Phantasm was one of her favorites, what eventually became the favorite when they finally managed to make the game run in the Castle’s system, giving Lance and her the opportunity for several evenings or even nights playing together.

Those were golden moments for Pidge.

Even so, she never told him how she felt and so she stayed for two years (or at least felt like two years for them), until they returned to Earth and Pidge, seeing all that was lost, all that could having been lost, and seeing the affection between her parents again, decided: She would tell him.

Lance might have started off as a teenage crush, but after struggling in an intergalactic war together, with so many good and bad times shared, Pidge had no doubts: She loved Lance McClain and would tell him that. At best, he would give her a chance and they could become a couple.

Unfortunately, Pidge never tried this hypothesis, because that faint blush on Allura's cheek, before they left to face Sendak, rekindled Lance's hopes in a way that even Pidge could see from a distance: she would never have a chance with him.

Her heart ached with this revelation all the way to her position on the plane. Pidge knew she needed to focus, there were things more important than her stupid heart at the moment, her planet was in danger and her strength needed to be at saving it.

But it hurts so much...

"Are you okay?" Rizavi's question caught her by surprise.

From the driver's accent, golden eyes stared at Pidge through the rearview mirror.

"Yes." Fortunately, her voice didn’t come out broken as she felt herself. "Yes, everything’s fine."

"Hm" was Rizavi's only response, before her focused eyes turned to the steering wheel.

Pidge sighed in relief. It was bad enough that she felt that way, she didn’t need the attention of someone who was still a stranger to her.

"No boy is worth it if he makes you sad like this before a mission."

Rizavi's statement once again caught her off guard. The MFE pilot didn’t look at her anymore, but somehow her words calmed Pidge, at least slightly enough for her to focus on the mission.

Even after the entire month spent at Garrison's hospital, Pidge still had months to think and decide that no, she wouldn’t tell Lance. Because Lance liked Allura, who was beginning to like him back. It was not worth spoiling their friendship to try to avoid the inevitable.

It was a matter of another year.

"She has a date. With pointed chin! "

Pidge had taken several pangs, squeezes, and even punches in her heart over the years because of her love for Lance, but when those animated words left Romelle's mouth her heart just swayed a little and then the feeling of "oh, it’s happening."

Don’t get me wrong, she was sad and it was sure enough that the feelings would weigh inside her later, but for now, while she had some control and in front of Allura, Romelle and her mother, she only allowed herself to say "A date? With Lance? Weird." And back to her work.

Colleen was very clear on how serious and long her grounded was so it was really a surprise to Pidge when she let her out to help Allura with her clothes. She wanted to help her friend, but it was kind of strange, Pidge kept alternating between remembering or not why she was there.

"Wow! This is the new Killbot Phantasm, that was about to come out before the invasion?! "

Rizavi's exclamation came in good time. Video games would always be of Pidge’s interest. At least being a star served something and she felt a feel of joy she had not felt for some time when she finally had the game in her hands.

Their game.

Maybe ... Could they still play together?

That thought cheered her up, and Pidge used her new celebrity powers to get several cool things for everyone.

Now they just need Allura’s clothes.

When the salesman said he wanted the game, Pidge instinctively hugged the box. At her side, she heard Rizavi immediately refuse and Allura said that that’s ok, that she didn’t need the clothes. But Pidge could hear the sadness in her friend's voice, and she also knew how much Lance would be saddened if Allura ended up giving up on the date.

Pidge looked at the box again, the words glittering in her eyes. It meant a lot to her, it meant a lot to Lance as well she knew, but Pidge also knew that going out with the girl he loved was worth more to him.

And the happiness of two of her friends was worth more to her.

"Here, you can have it," she said as she extended the game to the alien, unable to stop her voice from showing sadness. "We're not going to have time to play, anyway." She tried to push the thought that it would be true once the date went good.

They would be back in space, more and more busy and Lance would not even have time to play with her because surely he would want to spend every second with Allura.

When her friend embraced her, however, Pidge decided to leave that little sadness in her heart.

Her two friends could be happy now, and that was worth much more than a silly game.

\---

\---

The irony was that Pidge needed five years to convince herself about that.

In other words, it took her five years to mop up the rest of her sadness for Lance, ignore him in an attempt to disappear with that feeling, and then finally be able to stay close to him without feeling her heart ache anymore.

Not that the opportunities for them to see each other were many anyway, Lance lived half a way away and both were very busy with their respective duties. All the other former paladins were, in fact.

Well, at least Pidge's distance from her old group of friends gave Katie space to make new ones.

"Sorry, I'm late!" Katie exclaimed as she braked, panting, at the door of the garrison building.

James Griffin, however, just smiled at her.

"It was only five minutes, don’t worry." He looked her up and down, scratching the back of his neck as his cheeks reddened slightly. "You look beautiful, by the way."

Katie wriggled absently in the hem of her white dress, unable to disguise a smile for his compliment. "Well, a couple just can have one ‘one year of dating’ anniversary, right?" She tried to shake it off, but finally said, honestly, "You look great, too."

"Thank you." He laughed, half embarrassed suddenly. "Um ... Katie, before we go." James showed the hand on his back, revealing a rectangular package, thin and long, wrapped in green wrapping paper. "I wanted to give this to you first."

Katie blinked twice, but didn’t ask questions, taking the package that was extended to her. One lower tear was enough for her to identify the box, but a stronger tear on the top ... revealed the game’s name.

She almost thought it was a lie. Killbot Phantasm 36 was back in her hands.

Katie never thought she would see that game again, either because it was still a rare piece or because she was not looking for it. Quiznack, she'd completely forgotten that game, to be honest.

Because Katie had grown up, she had moved on with life. That teenager she had once been, Lance, Allura ... everything that game has ever represented to her one day, did not exist or did not matter anymore.

The title in the box began to blur.

"A-are you crying ?!" James screamed, visibly desperate. "Katie, what- you didn’t like the present, is that it? Damn, I'm going to kill Rizavi for this idea! "

She was quick to shake her head, catching Griffin's attention before he got even angrier at Nadia. Katie rubbed her eyes to wipe the tears before they fell, smiling a small smile at her boyfriend.

"There's nothing wrong with the present, I loved it."

"Then why-"

"Nadia did not tell you about the story behind this game, did she?" He shook his head and she laughed. "I’m gonna tell you later then," she approached him. "For now," she stood on tiptoe, arms sliding over James's shoulders. "Thank you for the gift." It was almost a whisper before their lips touched.

A mere touch of lips, only, and she could feel everything, from his love for him to his for her. And when James hugged her around the waist, with so much care, Katie felt her eyes burn again, along with the box of the game in her hands.

Again, she had it in her hands when she loved. But this time, she was loved back.


End file.
